The protection afforded open pit areas in vehicle service shops has heretofore been generally non-existant. In a few instances protective devices have been manually set up to block access to a pit to prevent shop personnel as well as customers and others from falling into the pit or onto vehicle alignment apparatus situated in the pit. More certain protective means is sometimes employed and consists of removable fence sections having posts which drop into floor sockets to support the fences. In the latter cases, the fense sections are heavy and must be manually placed in position if the floor sockets are clear of debris so the posts may freely enter the sockets. Whatever the protective means provided, it is either inadequate, cumbersome to handle, not really capable of affording satisfactory protection, and not uniform in make-up.